Who Will Joseph Parker Fight Next After Dispatching of Hughie Fury?
That Hughie Fury fight was a dangerous one, alright. Even after Joe won it there were still mumblings about the judging – although we’re fast finding with this bloke that mumblings happen more times than not when a title fight goes to a decision. Seems like those of a particular persuasion towards the more tactical side of boxing are sympathetic towards Hughie’s arguments but it ain’t all about tagging and clinching. You’ve gotta hurt the other bugger too. Parker was the more aggressive fighter and that’s what got it for him. Fair enough too, that’s how it should be.
Which means we can finally put that whole Fury thing in the rearview mirror. They never really wanted to fight Hughie after the first attempt at that bout fell through and tempers flared at regular intervals – though more than a little of that was for the cameras. But Hughie was the mandatory challenger so they also never really had a choice. Joseph Parker had to get that fight out of the way with and now he has, meaning he’s got 12 months before he’ll have to deal with another mandatory and it’s not impossible that he won’t even have to then if he’s ready for the unification stuff in a year.
Can’t go about that business now though and not only because he’s not ready. Also because the other two titleholders, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, are preparing for fights in the coming month. Joshua will fight Kubrat Pulev, his IBF mandatory challenger, on the last weekend of October. Wilder will fight… well, right now it’s tough to say but it’ll probably be Bermane Stiverne. That bloke is his mandatory for the WBC but had reluctantly accepted a deal to step aside and fight on the undercard (against Dominic Breazeale) so that Wilder could get at Luis Ortiz, the big Cuban who nobody wanted to fight but who Wilder begged his promoters to book in… only for Ortiz to test positive for something he shouldn’t have and now that fight’s off.
Stiverne is thus likely to step into the main event and Dominic Breazeale will therefore be available to take up Eddie Hearn’s offer of a scrap with Dillian Whyte on the AJ-KP undercard. If he wants to. Interesting boxing politics there and it’ll all take some focus in the next few days.
Whyte vs Breazeale will be a lot of fun (possibly more fun than the main event) while if Wilder doesn’t fight Stiverne now, a guy he’s already beaten once, then he’ll have to fight him next as part of their agreement anyway (although that agreement was for the winner of DB vs BS so Breazeale might wanna stay on that if he gets the choice as a quick path to another title shot).
Where does this all leave Joseph Parker? Who will he fight next if these jokers are all working out deals amongst themselves? He’s got a few options, don’t worry.
Tony Bellew or David Haye
Unless they take a keep busy fight in December or January then this is the one to bet the mortgage on. Bellew beat Haye by TKO in an entertaining but slightly silly fight back in March. The two slugged it out but Haye battled with a ruptured Achilles tendon for the last five of their 11 rounds and for many that left Bellew’s eventual win under a cloud of doubt. Especially as plenty of folks already doubted Bellew for his jump up into the heavyweight division.
Haye is back fit now and the pair have agreed to a rematch on Sunday December 17… just a week before Christmas! Bellew has been vocal about getting at Parker in the future and Kevin Barry might see the undersized Liverpudlian, with his high profile and all, as a great option to expand the brand in England some more. Of course he’s gotta get by David Haye again first.
On the other hand, Haye may be a former champion but he’s 37 years old now, coming off a difficult injury, and has already been retired once. He’s a very intelligent fighter but it’s not entirely proven how much his heart is still in the sport. Having said that, there haven’t been too many acts of sporting courage this year that rival fighting for five rounds with a ruptured Achilles so perhaps that’s a dumb thing to suggest. He’s got a new trainer these days, plus he’s in the rare position of being a former champ now left with something to prove. That’s motivation, baby.
Hey, it should be a fun fight and whoever wins it might just get a showdown for the WBO belt with Joe Parker in the first half of next year. Beat either Bellew or Haye and, with their profiles, his chances of a uni bout with Anthony Joshua in Britain skyrocket.
Someone from the WBO Stocks
The most recent WBO Heavyweight rankings are from September, here’s ya top ten:
- Hughie Fury (UK)
- Christian Hammer (GER)
- Tom Schwarz (GER)
- Dominic Breazeale (USA)
- Jarrell Miller (USA)
- Dillian Whyte (JAM)
- Alexander Povetkin (RUS)
- Kyataro Fujimoto (JPN)
- Luis Ortiz (CUB)
- Andy Ruiz (MEX)
You can cross four names off the list immediately. Parker has already fought, and has nothing to gain from fighting again, Fury and Ruiz while Povetkin and Ortiz are tarred and feathered for PEDs. The two Germans would be fun prospects but that doesn’t seem like the market Duco are trying to chase here and a quick turnaround fight is largely gonna be about marketing. Something that’ll add to Joseph’s worldwide reputation, ideally with a badass knockout in there. Whyte and Breazeale are fighting in the next month, potentially against each other (watch out for future mandatory status for the winner) so while they’d be keen on the fight and both would draw crowds in the United Kingdom, they won’t be fighting in the short term.
Which leaves Fujimoto and Miller.
What’s the fight market like in Japan? Apparently they’ve never had a local bloke in a world title fight there so it’d either be a massive occasion or a bit of a breeze over. David Higgins did mention Fujimoto at one point, intrigued by the idea of taking it to Tokyo, but realistically Fujimoto is nowhere near the class to hold his own here. He’s a bloke they tried to book in back in 2015 but he backed out and Dean Lonergan called him “gutless”. Haha, classy as ever. He’s also a guy that got KO’d by Solomon Haumono in 2012 so that one might be a joke of a contest… though they would get to see that Joe Parker knockout they’ve been waiting for.
As for Jarrell Miller, he’s a much more dangerous opponent. The 29 year old American is on his way up in the heavyweight division, having beaten Fred Kassi and Gerald Washington in his last two fights. He takes on Mariusz Wach in November which is should be good. Miller’s a heavy chap with an even heavier punch and he’s undefeated in 20 bouts (with one draw), boasting 17 knockouts in the process. Hopefully he can fulfil the place that Luis Ortiz has consistently buggered up as the challenger who’s out for the stoppage, the kind of fight that fans wanna see. That doesn’t always last as boxers rise up towards the top, however.
But Miller’s not much of a name in America, just like most of their top heavyweight fighters. That might be a problem. Also he’s in that same bracket with Whyte and Breazeale where he’s too good to fight on quick notice.
The other five ranked fighters on the last WBO list are: Zhilei Zhang, Carlos Takam, Agit Kabayel, Otto Wallin and Amir Mansour. Nothing special there, nothing that’ll get anyone excited. (Kabayel is fighting Dereck Chisora in November though, that might lead to something for the winner).
Bob Arum’s Top Rank Influences
Of course, there’s always this card to be played. Arum is happy to host a Parker fight in the USA, which would get him some great exposure thanks to their ESPN deal as well. It’s a matter of who he’d fight and the best candidate appears to be Bryant Jennings.
The American was an emerging title challenger a couple years ago when he lost by unanimous decision to Wladimir Klitschko, following that up by getting knocked out by Luis Ortiz. He didn’t fight for nearly two years after that but signed with Top Rank and got the TKO of Daniel Martz in August. Martz who Parker knocked out in 2015. With the Top Rank representation it’d be a super easy fight to organise and Jennings should make for a competitive but winnable opponent. Given Bob Arum’s power it might be a matter of how much Bob wants to see it happen.
Lucas Browne, Perhaps
God, can’t see much point in that. But it has been reported that Browne’s camp have reached out over a potential Aussie vs Aotearoa clash in the near future. Parker’s been broadcast in Australia a few times but that would need to be in New Zealand if it was really to cash in and it might not have been long enough since he last fought at home to make that worthwhile. There was some fatigue setting in already by his last home bout and a scrappy win over Hughie Fury doesn’t help that. A homer against Lucas Browne wouldn’t either. By the way, here’s another fighter with PED suspicions… although there were some shady circumstances there, admittedly.
A big Bledisloe fight for early next year? Eh, just highly doubtful that it’d live up to the hype is all. Browne and Fujimoto both make sense for quick turnaround fights (/easy wins) but there might be more to gain from going to Japan than returning to New Zealand at this stage. Always nice to have alternatives on hand though.
Rematch with Hughie Fury?
Not bloody likely.
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